Back to Headlines

'PMO mole' theory rubbish: Narayanan

     New Delhi: It has been almost a week since former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh referred to the existence of a mole in the Prime Minister's Office in 1991, who was allegedly funnelling nuclear secrets to the United States of America. That comment has been inviting pro and con views. National Security Advisor M.K.Narayanan today told CNN-IBN that the whole 'mole' theory is rubbish and termed Jaswant Sigh's allegation as 'outrageous'. Speaking to Karan Thapar, Narayanan said: "I think what Mr.Jaswant Singh has done has trivialised a public issue of grave importance. If there was really a mole and it was available a few years ago, we would have liked to have a look at it". Adding further, "From that point of time, I think the whole exercise has been that of nullifying any attempt or any effort to find out if indeed there was a mole". The weekly news magazine India Today has also published a three- page letter written by a senior American diplomat, who was based in India in 1995, to a US Senator, wherein references are made to a suspected mole in the PMO attending a super secret meeting presided over by the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. The news magazine also reports that this meeting was held in Bangalore to take a decision on whether India should conduct or not conduct a nuclear test.

Mole story sets cash registers ringing for Jaswant
by Ashok Dixit

      New Delhi: The cash register is working overtime for senior BJP politician Jaswant Singh, and he is one satisfied man with the result. His comment in his latest book -- "A Call To Honour -- In The Service of Emergent India" -- that he had in his possession written evidence and proof of a mole being present in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in 1991, and that mole funneling India's nuclear secrets to the United States, has boosted the sales of the book and sent him happy to the bank. If Kapish Mehra, the Managing Director of Rupa and Co, the publishers of the book, is to be believed, that comment has resulted in 20,000 copies being sold since its release in the market on July 20. Priced at Rs.495 a copy, that means that Mr. Jaswant Singh has netted a cool Rs.9,90, 000 (21, 256 dollars) in royalties in a week so far. Briefing the audience about what went into the making of the book, Mehra said that Mr. Singh approached Rupa at the beginning of June this year after negotiations with Penguin, New York, had fizzled out. "The book is like a Mona Lisa painting. A book that compels the reader to search for its meaning. It has an excellent recount of Indian history, a journey into contemporary India and a plot for political potshots as well. Nineteen covers were discussed before deciding on the final one. I am happy to report that the book is about to start its fourth reprint. Twenty thousand copies have been sold in five days," Mehra said.

     In his comments on the book, Jaswant said: "This book has been an expression from the very inwards of my being. It does not fit into a pattern. It is being commented upon for all the wrong reasons. This is not a book to sensationalise it. There is a great deal in the book. I never meant to sensationalise anything (through this book). Sensationalism is not the purpose of the book. All this now disappoints me. The book is neither a biography nor an analysis. I have written whatever was going inside me for years." He, however, jocularly lamented that " Authors should be exempted from the tax man's net. Fifty percent of the royalties will go to Chidambaram (Union Finance Minister). Royalties should be free of tax. There is a self-interest in this plea." Eminent panelists gracing the book release function were also effusive in their praise for the book. Eminent economist and former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Dr. Bimal Jalan said: "I am surprised by the contemporary account of the book, the background. I was surprised by his (Jaswant's) style of writing. It is a brilliantly written book, very detailed, and surprisingly large. As far as the Call To Honour aspect of the book is concerned, its reflective of the inability of our system to deliver." Jalan, however, said that he was optimistic that India is up to it, and described the economy as robust and having "tremendous prospects". Strategic Affairs expert C.Raja Mohan said that the book provided an insight into a very important part of Indian history, and said that Jaswant Singh for all his right-wing leanings, surprisingly brought "dignity and grace" to the Foreign Minister's Office between 1998 and 2001. He also said that as the correspondent covering the foreign office during Singh's time as foreign minister, the NDA provided unending surprises, particularly in the way it projected its foreign policies.

     Ex-BBC correspondent in India Sir Mark Tully was simply hilarious in his comments on the book and on Jaswant Singh himself. He started off by establishing an affinity with Singh in that both strated out as cavalry officers. "We suffered verbal abuse at the hands of our Irish Guards," he said. He also said that Jaswant's book had come down quite hard on "babudom" at the Ministry of External Affairs, describing the foreign office mandarins as having " chips on their shoulders and being excessively protocol bound. The book was also about how to get the bureaucracy to move -- with a focus on incremental graduation. Making peace with Pakistan was a constant endeavour. By and large, Tully said Indian diplomats were not very good at working with or being polite with their colleagues in neighbouring or smaller countries, and that was something that needed to change. Others who spoke on the occasion were strategic expert Bharat Karnad, Major General (retired) Ashok Mehta and former Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra. The storm over Singh's latest magnum opus notwithstanding, he is planning on writing another five books, which he said could create "more controversies". In September, he will launch his book titled "Ayodhya", a book that compiles a range of views expressed at a seminar held on March 3, 1993. This book will be followed by by -- Travels in Transasia, a tome on his travels to Central Asia, Behram Khan, a book on Mughal Emperor Akbar's teacher, Soor and Soorma, a book on warriors and the final book on Pakistan's Founding Father -- Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Jaswant says he is still adjusting to Delhi  (Go To Top)
by Ashok Dixit

     New Delhi: The average common man would naturally think that a high-profile politician of over 30 years standing and a seven-term Member of Parliament would find living in the heart of Lutyens Delhi quite comforting and an acceptable way of life, but in BJP MP Jaswant Singh's case, it isn't true. A function held in one of the capital's five star hotels on Thursday evening to mark the release of his book " A Call To Honour -- In The Service of Emergent India", revealed many interesting facets about the man, presently bedevilled by a comment (in the book) that there was a mole in the Prime Minister's Office in 1991, who was funneling India's nuclear secrets to the United States. One of those interesting vignettes was his candid confession that the way of life in Delhi was still very alien to him and to his family, which hails from Jodhpur in Rajasthan. "Delhi is the ultimate `Maya Nagari' (City of Glitz and Glam with no human feeling). Delhi has never belonged to anybody. That is a lesson that I learnt a long time back. I still find it difficult to find my way around Delhi, more than 30 years after living here. Other than coming to the India International Centre ( a high profile club frequented by politicians, bureaucrats, academicians and writers) or the odd one or two places in Central Delhi, I often find myself at a loss as to where I am and where I am headed," said Singh, a man, who suprisingly has headed six high profile ministeries at the Centre and is one of the senior leaders of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party that headed a coalition government for six years. Another vignette that surfaced during the interaction was the surprising fact that Jaswant Singh only started speaking English at the age of ten after joining Rajasthan's school for royals -- Mayo College in Ajmer. Surprising in the sense that Singh is now regarded as one of the few high profile personas who speaks English with finesse and felicity, right down to the last T. Some of those who have been associated with him in the past, say on condition of anonymity that "he loves his voice, loves the way he speaks English and wants that baritone way of speech to be heard." "I was brought up by my grandparents. My father went off to fight the war (Second World War). I think he saw me for the first time when I was six. I did not speak a word of English till I was ten- years-old. Very few of you will believe this," said Singh.

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top